Child Abuse Reporting Paper

Abuse Reporting Paper

In 1962 the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare’s Children’s Bureau, now known as Health and Human Services, began to develop measures to protect children from abuse, neglect and mistreatment by establishing the procedure and framework for reporting abuse and developing the laws and regulations governing the prevention, education and protective actions enforced in the arena of child abuse. By 1967, state laws were established requiring professionals and public agencies of the mandatory requirement for care professionals to report alleged or suspected abuse. The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA; 42 U.S.C. Chapter 5101-5106) which became law in 1974 continues to serve as the key piece of legislation
Although the list of those required by state and federal law is expansive, there is no legal requirement for individual private citizens to report abuse; the decision is left to their individual moral and ethical position. Private Citizens are immune from any report made in good faith in order to protect the interests of an individual whose safety is a concern, however, mandated reporters who fail to report suspected abuse face steep penalties and can risk losing licenses or certification as a result. This is an especially complex area especially in cases involving mental health professionals identified as serving the legal
This information is current only through April 2010; States that include clergy as mandated reporters are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. back
3 Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. Three of these States (Mississippi, New Hampshire, and New Mexico) also enumerate clergy as mandated reporters. back
4 The issue of clergy-penitent privilege also may be addressed in case law, which this publication does not cover. back
5 Clergy are not mandated reporters in Washington, but if they elect to report, their report and any testimony are provided statutory immunity from liability. back
The team is of the mindset that no individual should be exempt from reporting incidents of abuse and that religious exceptions, cannot override the necessity to protect and keep individuals from undue harm or